


The Silence (Of The Sea)

by Sir_Bedevere



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Extra Trick, Gen, Ghosts, Superstition
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 08:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16364759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sir_Bedevere/pseuds/Sir_Bedevere
Summary: The tern flew just ahead of the ship, gliding with barely a flap of her wings to keep her in the air. Davos stood at the bow, eyes on the horizon, with the sure stance of a man who knew the waters and feared nothing from them. He would sometimes tilt his head a little, just enough to glance at his daemon, high above his head. The two of them had an easy and close relationship, easier than Stannis and his own daemon had ever had.





	The Silence (Of The Sea)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Plaid_Slytherin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Plaid_Slytherin/gifts).



> Just a little extra thing that I was super inspired to write!

The tern flew just ahead of the ship, gliding with barely a flap of her wings to keep her in the air. Davos stood at the bow, eyes on the horizon, with the sure stance of a man who knew the waters and feared nothing from them. He would sometimes tilt his head a little, just enough to glance at his daemon, high above his head. The two of them had an easy and close relationship, easier than Stannis and his own daemon had ever had. 

She was curled at his feet, quiet now that he had settled down to sit awhile. Kaya was not comfortable at sea, and it pained Stannis that he should have chosen a life on the water when it was such a trial for her. But that was how it had always been, for he knew his soul was a fretful one, and so Kaya would be a fretful creature too. There was no life he could have chosen for her that would have been right, for he barely knew what was right for him. 

As though she knew he was thinking about her, Kaya sat up suddenly and gazed at him. Stannis put out a hand and pulled gently on her long ears, and she rumbled deep in her throat. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

The hare stood on her back legs and rested a paw against his knee.

“Can you hear that?” she whispered. “A bird.”

“It is only Davos and Mira,” Stannis said, although he was not sure he had heard Mira cry out. 

Kaya shook her head and turned away to lollop towards Davos. Stannis sighed and followed her. She was an awkward creature, as though her limbs were too long. When she had finally settled on a hare, very early on, Robert had mocked her. That was the only time Stannis had laid a hand on his brother outside of the training yard. 

“Davos, can you hear that?” Kaya asked, stopping at his feet. 

Davos glanced down and smiled, then up at Stannis. 

“Hear what?”

“A bird,” Kaya insisted. “And it isn’t Mira. It’s big.”

To his credit, Davos did not dismiss her. He turned his face back to the sky and whistled. Mira came immediately, settling on his shoulder and tipping her head to Stannis. 

“I don’t think there is anything, Kaya,” Stannis said, impatient. 

“It wasn’t Mira,” the daemon insisted. “I know what she sounds like.”

Davos was still gazing up at the still sky, barely a breath of wind to disturb them, let alone move their sails. 

Then, without a word, he pointed. 

The four of them stared as an enormous bird, larger than any Stannis had ever seen, seemed to appear out of nowhere and wheeled about the ship. There were cries as the other sailors spotted it, and a rush as their daemons — Mira among them — took to the skies. 

“Stannis, pick me up!” Kaya was standing on her back legs, stretching as high as she could. Stannis scooped her up and she scrambled onto his shoulder, eyes on the sailors’ daemons as they danced around the silent shadow that had come amongst them. Kaya was trembling, but whether it was from excitement or fear he could not tell. 

The silence was eerie as the sailors below watched the birds, hands clamped over their hearts as their daemons dared to fly just a little further than usual. The few who had flightless daemons had them in their arms, and so the silence went on and on until the bird, with a flap of its enormous wings, flew too far away. 

And then it was gone, as quickly as it had come, and the daemons returned to their sailors. 

A wind blew up, one that buffeted Mira away from Davos’ shoulder, and for the first time in days the sails filled and the ship was moving. 

“Well, I never.” Davos held out an arm for Mira to hop onto. “So it is true.”

“What is true?” Stannis asked, reaching up a hand to hold Kaya steady. 

“That was an albatross, my lord,” Davos said. “They bring us good luck. I’ve never seen one.”

“I could feel it,” Mira spoke for the first time. “The stories are true.”

All over the ship, Stannis could see the sailors whispering with their daemons and knew he was missing something still.

“It made me feel … odd. Sad,” Kaya murmured. 

“Aye, it would,” Davos stroked Mira’s back. “They say — always have said — that an albatross is a soul that never moved on. A sailor, usually. One who died at sea, though there are plenty others who do so and move on.”

Kaya trembled, and Stannis gazed at Davos’ face. A soul detached — well, that was — 

“A daemon? A daemon who stayed?”

“Who can say, my lord?” Davos shrugged, and Mira pecked at his ear. 

Stannis had never heard of such a thing — didn’t know it was possible, didn’t believe it could be — but the daemons had acted so strangely when it flew over them, like they knew. Quiet and respectful. 

A shiver went down his back. A daemon, detached and wandering and missing. Missing something it could never get back. He pulled Kaya into his arms and held her to his chest, noticing how Davos had not removed his hand from Mira’s back. 

“It’s only an old superstition,” Davos said weakly. “We have too many of them out here.”

But the day passed too quietly after that, and the bird daemons would not take to the air, and every man kept his eyes turned to the skies.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks, Vana, for reading through for me :)


End file.
